TOP END STORM Captains Jessie & Jack accept Champion CLUB trophy from SNTI s EO, Leah Cullen IN THIS MONTHS ISSUE Upcoming Events (p.1) From the EO s Desk (p.1) Board/ Committee Member profile-clare Labowitch (p.2) Introducing the Office Staff (p.3) Having a look at what we re doing-current SNTI programs (p.4) THE WHISTLE BLOWER- a referee s quiz (p.5) VORGEE NT OPEN & AGE 09 REVIEW (p.6) Photos of Perpetual winners from NT Champs (p.7) Swimmers Profile Robert Gerlach (p.8) Fundraising, sponsorship and grant opportunities (p.9) ARAFURA information and team names (p.10-12) 0
Upcoming Events Saturday 28 th March -9 & under championships (Casuarina) ENTRIES DUE: closed START TIME: 4pm for 4:30pm Saturday 4 th April -Power in the water Meet #3 (FINAL) (Casuarina) ENTRIES DUE: closed START TIMES: 7am For 7:30am & 4pm For 4:30pm Sat/Sun 11 th -12 th April - Gove Invitational (GOVE) This meet has been postponed April 13 th -18 th - Australian Age Championships (Homebush,Sydney) ENTRIES DUE: By Close NT OPEN& AGE START TIMES: See http://www.swim ming.org.au/ Saturday 25 th April -Darwin Sprint Invitational (Casuarina) ENTRIES DUE : 17th April START TIMES: 4pm for 4:30pm FROM THE EO S DESK Welcome to the next instalment of the Swimming NT Newsletter. It has been a very busy period we have just come out off, a big thank you to all volunteers that have worked so hard during the Vorgee NT Open and Age. I would particularly like to say a resounding well done to Creina Scally, without your help the event would be nowhere near the success that it was, from what feedback that we have had the after party was a huge success that was talked about for days afterwards. There were many more volunteers who tirelessly worked behind the scenes, Swimming is lucky to have every one of you! The office has seen quite a few changes, firstly I would like to welcome Daniel Gerlach as our new Support Officer and the new ISDO will commence in the office on the 27 th April, Steve 1 Hollis is a dynamic individual who has a great background in working with indigenous youth. The big news is that the NTIS has approved a swimming program for the next 4 years starting in July. Thank you to our President Clare Labowitch and also a big thank you to Bernard Savage and Alan Thompson from Swimming Australia, who flew up especially to meet with NTIS. The team for the Australian Age Championships in Sydney has been set as well as the team for Arafura, congratulation to all those swimmers who will be competing in these events and good luck. McDonald s have also come on board as our sponsor for Junior Development; we welcome them and look forward to a long and prosperous relationship.
SNTI BOARD/ COMMITTEE MEMBER PROFILE Name: Roles in Swimming NT: Clare Labowitch President, Chair of Selection Committee, Head Coach, Darwin Swimming Club Occupation: Years involved in swimming: English Teacher 23 years Immediate family involved in swimming past or present: My son, Ben, and daughter, Shoanne, were both members of Darwin Swimming Club; both participated in PSG events and Ben went on to represent NZ as a breaststroker in Athens in 2004. Shoanne now works for Fisheries as a Research Scientist and Ben is an Officer in the US Marines leading a Biological, Radiation and Chemical Response team in Washington. CLUB: Darwin Swimming Club Reason you got involved: Supporting my children. Greatest aspiration for Swimming in the NT: An aquatic facility which does justice for our swimmers. Favourite race to watch: Any medley race the individual medley is the most interesting of all the races to watch as different athletes have different strengths. It require intelligent racing, knowing your strengths and weaknesses, knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of your main rivals, a high level of technique and good racing skills. Favourite music: Indie and alternative eg Feist and Sia. Favourite artist: Favourite Movie: Favourite place: Favourite food (for bribery ): Van Morrison Anything that can make me laugh Anywhere on, or by, the water I love food, ALL food Favourite athlete or role model and why: Raylene Boyle and Ian Thorpe both were poetry in motion when they raced over the 400m Raylene as a runner; Ian as a swimmer. 2
Introducing the Office Staff Hi my name is Leah Cullen and I have accepted the position of E.O with Swimming NT and look forward to working with the many members who make this swimming community so great. As a part of my thanks for this opportunity to work with Swimming NT I thought I would introduce myself a little bit to you all. I have 2 children aged 19 and 17 who live and study in Darwin. I come from a background of swim teaching and coaching, most recently having coached with Litchfield Jacana Swimming Club up until my children stopped swimming in the early naughties. In the last 5 years I have stayed in the field working for Royal Life Saving as the Training Officer for the last five years with before coming over to Swimming NT as the ISDO in September last year. I look forward to meeting many more of you and helping build swimming in the Territory. Hi my name is Daniel Gerlach and I am the new support Officer here at Swimming Northern Territory s Office. Many of you may already know me from around swimming, I have been involved with swimming in the NT for about 15 years now, starting as a junior at my local club; Palmerston & Rural and competing (sometimes intermittently) until the last Arafura Games. In my time as a competitive swimmer I had the opportunity to join the NTIS Development squad program under Jay Davies when it formed, and work with coaches such as Mark Davies, Max O Callahan, Norm Jarvis and Bill Sweetenham. Towards the end of year 12 I was offered the opportunity by my club Palmerston & Rural to take on the senior s squad for a short period. From there I was offered a permanent position as a Palmerston coach and have been working with Rose and the committee to grow the club. Other jobs I have had in the past include Lifeguarding, ISA work, Learn to swim teacher and I am also in the final year of a Bachelor of Science (majoring in exercise and sport science). I am grateful to the members of Swimming NT for this opportunity to work with SNTI and try to give back some of the many things I myself have gained from this sport we all love so much. Cheers, Daniel Gerlach, Support Officer SNTI 3
HAVING A LOOK AT WHAT WE RE DOING Current SNTI programs -Total Recreation swimming program in Palmerston This program got disadvantaged kids from Palmerston and rural schools involved in a learn to swim and swim training program with Royal Life saving and NT swimming. The program was a huge success over the first term with all students doing well in the Carnival Held Friday 20 th March and many excited to try swimming as a sport. -Nemarluk Primary school Leah has been lucky enough to have the opportunity for a couple of hours each week to work with some of the high support students at Nemarluk as a part of their aquatic program. -Indigenous Program As many of you are aware SNTI has been lucky enough to recruit a new member to our team to fill the role of Indigenous Sport Development Officer, Steve Hollis. Steve Will be carrying on the work done by Leah in her time as the ISDO. Upcoming activities of this program include a trip by Leah on Wed 25 th to the Wadeye community, to visit Stingray (Ray) and his kids out there. Currently also in the works are some projects to stimulate some small scale competitions for our remote members. 4
THE WHISTLE BLOWER A referee s quiz In Butterfly, how many leg kicks must you perform for each arm stroke? 1. one 2. as many as you like 3. two 4. alternating one and two In backstroke, how often can you stand on the bottom of the pool? 1. at the start and at every turn 2. once per lap only 3. never 5
VORGEE NT OPEN & AGE 09 REVIEW All reports so far have labelled this year s championships a huge success with several big changes this year. Firstly the championships has grown a little bit longer to incorporate an extra session on the Friday morning to allow more time for athletes to compete in more events and we were also lucky enough top have members from 2 Victorian clubs competing this year with interest coming in from others. Also new this year was an outside caterer at all sessions, lifting the load off of clubs and allowing them to focus on the swimming at hand and the FANTASTIC after party organised by Creina Scally and held at the Casuarina Surf Club on the Sunday evening. Results from Perpetuals presented at the After Party are as follows: Club Perpetuals: VORGEE NT OPEN & AGE CHAMPION CLUB TOP END STORM KEITH GABEL FORM STROKE CHAMPION CLUB TOP END STORM CHAMPION RELAY CLUB DARWIN Individual Perpetuals: MALE OVERALL CHAMPION ROBERT GERLACH, PALM FEMALE OVERALL CHAMPION ELYSHIA SHELDON, PALM MALE DISTANCE CHAMPION ROBERT GERLACH, PALM FEMALE DISTANCE CHAMPION LILI BURROWS, DAR PAUL KINTER MALE 50m FREE CHAMP ROBERT GERLACH, PALM JIM GAYTON FEMALE 50m FREE CHAMP ELYSHIA SHELDON, PALM PERFOMANCE OF THE MEET-ROBERT GERLACH, PALM DISABILITY PERFOMANCE OF THE MEET-TAHNEE AFUHAAMANGO, TES 6
Individual perpetual winners and National Qualifiers Female Sprint Champ Disability Swimmer of the Meet Male Sprint, Distance, overall and Swimmer of the Meet Female Distance Champ Overall Male &Female CHAMPS National Age Qualifiers 09 7
SWIMMER PROFILE SWIM IN IT NEWSLETTER Name: Robert Gerlach Age: 14 Nick name: Bob Story behind the Nick name: NO story it s just a shorter version of my name Coach: Daniel Gerlach CLUB: Palmerston and Rural Favourite piece of clothing: Favourite music: Favourite Movie: Favourite place: Favourite training set: orange & white funky trunks Green Day and other similar bands The Postman The swimming pool or the beach (especially when there is waves) 2* 6*50m MAX on 1.30 400m Long Strong and slippery strokes Dreams and Aspirations: Favourite role model and why: Favourite swimmer to watch and why: Favourite Event and Stroke: Current goals in Swimming: Olympics, Commonwealths, Youth Olympics (represent Australia) Craig Stevens because he is an awesome model of sportsman like conduct. Hayden Stoekle because he is the number 1 Australian Backstroker at the moment and makes backstroke look powerful and easy 100m Backstroke because it is my event to perform well at Age Nationals, make short course teams and make an Australian Junior team Favourite Quote: Go Hard or go home If you aren t going to give 100% why bother at all Tips for training: Trust your coach & put all of your effort into whatever they ask you to do. At the end of the day Training good or bad doesn t affect your coach s performance but it does affect yours. 8
FUNDRAISING, SPONSORSHP & GRANTS OPPORTUNITIES With thanks to our Director of sponsorship we are able help keep clubs apprised of opportunities which may otherwise have been missed. Thanks Creina Some known opportunities (feel free to send new ones in for the next issue) 1. Woolworth are currently calling for applicants for there community grants - "Applications for 2009 Woolworths Community Grants program are now open. To give your organisation the opportunity to receive up to $5,000 in funding please apply through this website. http://www.freshfoodkids.com.au/community/community-grants/ 2. Grass Roots Grant application booklets are available from the Sport and Recreation website www.sportandrecreation.nt.gov.au, and on 1800 045 678. 3. Community Benefit Grants Grant Application Package Grants, generally for amounts up to $5,000, are available from the Fund to approved non-profit Territory-based organisations to help them in the provisions of services that benefit the community. Funds are distributed on a biannual basis and may be applied to approved activities which do not fit within other government funding programs, but have the potential to improve the well being and lifestyle of Territorians. The following general timeframe applies for the next funding round: Round 2 2008/2009 Applications Open 1 January 2009 Applications Close 27 February 2009 Applicants Notified May 2009 To ensure funds are distributed fairly throughout the Territory, funding requests are approved according to identified needs. In establishing priorities, consideration is given to issues such as local population, level of existing community support and circumstances such as remoteness or high levels of socio-economic disadvantage. Each application is treated on its merits in each funding round. Allocations will be made in the light of funding capacity available at the time, with preference given to applications for lower amounts, to allow benefits to be distributed as widely as possible throughout the community. 4. There is also a website called GrantsLink and that list many grant available for clubs and individuals at a Commonwealth level. http://www.grantslink.gov.au/ 9
ARAFURA GAMES 09 INFORMATION COMPETITION DATES: the pool competition will be held MAY 10 th -12 th at Casuarina pool & the open water event will be held at Lake Bennett on the 13 th MAY Drug and Doping Rules Arafura Games swimming is run according to the anti-doping rules set by ASADA. these can be found at their website http://www.asada.gov.au Spectators and Volunteers Spectators are welcomed and encouraged to come down and enjoy this international spectacle of Races, that is Arafura, over the 3 days and support our athletes. If you are coming down though why not help out and be a part of the event itself, we are still looking for swimmers to be basket carriers at finals sessions and a coordinator for the carriers BATHERS IMPORTANT: New Australian and FINA by-laws relating to restrictions on swim suits do not apply to this meet See Team member names on the following pages 10
Female Swimmers Arafura Games 11
MALE SWIMMERS ARAFURA GAMES 12